Fordham Loses Professer Dembo

Joseph Dembo, a former vice president of CBS News and award winning journalist who taught in the department of communication and media studies at Fordham University from 1988 until his retirement in May 2009, died over the weekend after a long illness. A memorial service will be announced.

Father Michael Tueth, S.J., said, “The news about Professor Dembo has saddened me quite a bit. I am sure that everyone will bring this up, but to me he was the quintessence of what we mean by the word, ‘gentlemen’. He maintained high standards for himself and his students, and he so valued words that he never engaged in idle or useless conversation. I am sure that he maintained the same high standards and the same respect for words in his distinguished career before he came to Fordham. While he will long be revered as the utmost professional in the mass media, I will remember him as the kindest of colleagues who went out of his way to show his support for me from the day I arrived at Fordham. There is so much more I could say, but let this suffice”.

“No matter what area of the media he was talking about, he would always have a story to tell,” said Brent Nycz, FCLC ’09, “Whether the story was about his time in CBS, his encounters and memories of Edward R. Murrow, speaking about other former employees like Eric Sevareid, or even about his wife and children, he always had a personal nugget to share and a story always in his back pocket, just like a true journalist always does.”

“He always used examples about ethics from his own personal experience, which made it more real than just reading about it in a textbook. I always liked that about his class because they were usually a little funny too,” said Katie Puccio, FCLC ’10.

“He was an amazing storyteller and a great guy. He’ll definitely be missed,” said Nycz.

-Ashley Wennersherron, editor and chief and Brianna Steinhilber, Features editor